“Thanks, Ton.” I hated calling Benton by his name; it made him sound like some preppy douchebag like Royal, which he wasn’t. Then I dropped Royal to his feet, smiling when he gasped for air. “I’d hate to piss off the judge.”
Royal glared at me, ignoring the other man completely. “This isn’t over, Linc. In the end, I’m going to win, and she’s going to be mine.”
My knuckles cracked, and Royal flinched at the sudden sound filling the silence in the bathroom. I hadn’t even meant for it to happen, but he pissed me off and I clenched my fist too tight.
Royal stepped around both me and Benton, and since neither of us moved for him, it was funny to see him plaster himself against the wall like the weasel he was.
The bathroom door shut behind him as he fled, and the laugh I’d been holding in escaped. Benton just stood there and rolled his eyes. The white button-down shirt he wore under the dark-gray tailored jacket stretched over his chest as he crossed his arms.
“You know he’s gonna be a big problem for you, right?”
“Honestly, I don’t care as long as he leaves Kennedy alone.”
Benton snorted and then walked away, with one parting shot over his shoulder.
“Maybe you should ask yourself why you’re so obsessed with her after all these years, rather than worrying about her ex.”
The bathroom door shut behind him with a finality that set my teeth on edge. When I finally dragged my eyes back up to the reflection staring back at me over the sink, I wanted to throw up.
Royal Prince was a piece of shit. It wasn’t a secret that I’d hated him since my last deployment, when I found out about the way he’d weaseled into Kennedy’s life. But having him, of all people, rub my face in the fact that I’d been the one to walk away from Kennedy in the first place hurt more than I’d ever admit. My chest ached worse than it had when I ignored the only woman I’d ever loved. The only one I’d ever been able to call my own, and she didn’t even belong to me. Not really.
Once I splashed cold water on my face and mentally slapped some sense into myself, it was time to get back to work.
Dom stood outside the bathroom, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I see you had some fun in there.” He nodded down the hall, where both Royal and Benton were standing with their backs to us, waiting to go through the oak doors that led to Birch County’s courtrooms.
“Yep.” I shook my head. “Don’t know what she ever saw in that douche.”
Dom snorted. “Maybe his balls are bigger than yours.”
I turned, my neck practically creaking with the restraint it took not to whip around. “Don’t ever talk about my balls again.”
Dom just snickered. “Not a chance in hell, pretty boy. Who plays roller derby and doesn’t put underwear on? Your balls touched my hand, man. I will forever get to give you shit about it.”
When I glared at him even more, he shrugged. “Your. Balls. Touched. My. Hand.” A shudder worked its way through his body involuntarily, making me want to slap him upside the head. “Never again, Linc. Every single time I see you, I’m gonna bring it up, until something worse happens.”
I walked away, unwilling to talk about it with him, or admit that I’d been in the wrong. As far as I was concerned, the entire thing was Remy’s fault. My black eye, the fact that my balls got exposed to everyone, and the fact that Parker told me she videoed the entire thing and sent it to Kennedy.
Dom didn’t let me get far before he fell into step beside me, and the two of us walked silently through the hall toward the parking lot. Working the rest of my shift after court in the morning wasn’t the best thing in the world, but then again, neither was walking right into the most awkward situation I’d ever thought possible when we stepped out of the stairwell.
“I’m not picking a tick off your ass, Kennedy. That crosses a line now that you’re an adult. One I’m not going back over.”
“Come on, Mom. It’s a tick. You’ve dealt with ticks before. We live in Maine, and I know you’ve picked them off me before.”
Dom snorted, giving away the fact that we were there, and the two women turned to face us. Kennedy’s face turned redder than her hair, and she immediately burst into embarrassed tears. I only knew because it was the exact same thing she’d done when she was twelve and walked into the bathroom while I was taking a shower.
“I’ll pick a tick off your ass,” Dom chimed in. “I don’t think I’ve had my fill of other people’s bodies this week and I need to reach my self-imposed quota.”
Kennedy laughed through her tears, and I knew that was Dom’s intention, but the feral growl that left my lips was one I couldn’t control. She might not be mine, but I’d be damned if I let someone else get their hands on her, especially when I stood right there.
“Great.” Veronica Townsend, who’d insisted we call her Mama T from the time we could talk, beamed at the two of us, and I wanted to disappear into a pit. The glimmer there, the exact same look she’d had on her face when she caught me and Remy sneaking out in high school, told me that she knew exactly what she was doing.
Dom and Kennedy, on the other hand, were completely oblivious to her machinations.
“I’m gonna go,” she went on with a saccharine smile. “Dom can get the tick off your ass.”
With that, and a wave that might make a beauty queen happy, Mama T walked away with her head held high.
Kennedy’s sniffle caught my full attention, and I clenched my fists to keep from reaching for her. The scent that was only hers, a mix of vanilla and ecstasy, wrapped itself around my head and filled my mind with the image of our night together, making the struggle to keep my hands to myself even harder.
“Go away, Dom.”
Dom, who’d been watching me closely, laughed to himself and shook his head. “Nah, man. I think I’m good right here.”
“Go. Away.” I bit out the words and waited patiently even though I wanted to punch him in the face.
Knowing I’d reached my limit, Dom walked away without another word, leaving me with a wide-eyed Kennedy who still had tears in her eyes.
“How’re your balls?” She gasped at her own question, slapping her hand over her mouth in surprise.
I shook my head, taking a step forward. Then I took her by the arm and led her into the training room at the end of the hall and locked the door behind me.
“Apparently, they’re better than your ass.” Those words felt like someone had grabbed my tongue and doused it in honey and then stuck it to a cat’s ass. They barely made it out of my mouth, and once they were out, I felt like ash had been dumped down my throat.
“I’m fine, Linc.” She stared at me with amber eyes that I’d never forget, and her red hair had already started to fall out of her bun. “You don’t need to help.”
“Shut up, Kennedy.”
Her eyes flashed with contradiction, but she couldn’t exactly leave. I stood in front of her only escape, and the door was locked.
“Seriously, Linc.” she hedged. “You can just go.”
“Shut up, Kennedy,” I repeated, trying to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. “Just shut up and drop your pants.”